1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication network specific charging method and a communication network specific charging apparatus which are preferably applied to a TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) communication network formed among a plurality of branches.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an enterprise having a plurality of branches, the branches are connected to each other through a large-scale TCP/IP communication network for data communication, so that data communication can be made possible between terminal devices installed in the respective branches. As a function executed by data communication, e.g., data transfer of text data or image data between, the terminal devices, transmission and reception of electronic mails, web browsing of the Internet, and the like are known.
In such a TCP/IP communication network, an enterprise or the like which opens the network generally pays the expenses of operating the network. Therefore, a fee for use of lines of every data communication (so-called speech communication fee or connection fee) is not required, as in a case where connection to an internet provider or a mail server is performed using an ordinary public telephone line is used, and such a system configuration that charging is performed for every data communication is not established. More specifically, a system configuration is so that, when the ordinary public telephone line is used, an originating state from each subscriber is monitored on an exchange station side, and when the originating occurs, charging is performed according to the time of speech communication and a distance at that time. In case of a network for TCP/IP communication in a conventional limited area such as an enterprise, such a system for charging is not necessary.
However, in recent years, the application of data communication using the TCP/IP communication network of this type is widened, and an amount of data transmission tends to increase. The area where connection is made through the network is not within one enterprise, but the area tends to be wider, as connection between related companies and so on. Therefore, a line having a large capacity must be assured as a communication line for assuring a necessary amount of data transmission, and a very large number of communication lines themselves are required. Specifically, a communication line for connecting positions to each other must be replaced with a communication line of a large capacity, or the number of positions themselves connected through a communication line must be increased. Costs for the operation of a TCP/IP communication network are thus increasing.
Here, when an area where connection is performed through a TCP/IP communication network is limited to, e.g., a relatively small area of, one enterprise, the enterprise which operates the TCP/IP communication network pays all the costs of operating the TCP/IP communication network without any problem. However, when a network is established between related companies, amounts to be paid by the respective companies of the costs of operating the TCP/IP communication network will be a problem. In the past, amount or rates which are paid by the respective companies are prescribed in advance, and the companies pay the prescribed amounts regardless of actual amounts of data communication. However, data transmission states of the branches connected through the network are different from each other. It is unfair that a branch which frequently exchanges data through the network and a branch which experiences a small amount of data transmission pay the costs of operating the network at equal rates.
In order to solve the problem, for example, the following system may be conceived. That is, data transmitted through the network is always monitored, and charging is performed in the same way, as in a public telephone line, each time data transmission is detected by the monitoring. However, when the system for always monitoring all data transmissions is added to the TCP/IP communication network, the configuration for monitoring the data transmissions will be complicated, and the data of a transmission state detected by the monitoring system must be transmitted to a center for performing charging processing through the TCP/IP communication network. Thus, the consideration high ratio of data transmitted through the TCP/IP communication network will be charging data, so that the efficiency of data transmission itself is degraded.
For example, in a conventional system, when connecting through a wide area network positions to which local area networks being networks in small areas of branches, etc. are connected to constitute a TCP/IP communication network, the traffic of data transmitted through the wide area network is measured and data related to the measured traffic could be collected at a center connected to a predetermined position of the TCP/IP communication network. However, in such a system configuration, a considerably large amount of data transmitted through the wide area network is occupied by the data related to the measured traffic. When such a matter arises, the transmission capacity of the communication line forming a TCP/IP communication network must inappropriately be increased for a charging processing.
Moreover, in a communication line for a wide area network connecting positions to each other, depending on a data transmission capacity required at that time, the type of a communication line to be used must be selected and communication lines having various capacities are used. Also, as a device for measuring the traffic, a device corresponding to the type of the communication line must be also prepared. When the transmission capacity of a communication line is changed, the device for measuring a traffic must be changed into a device corresponding to the transmission capacity. Each time the system configuration of the TCP/IP-communication network changes, the charging system must be updated.
Furthermore, the conventional traffic measurement device can be measure a traffic such as an amount of transmission of data transmitted through the network can be measured, but cannot determine the type of the transmitted data, so that appropriate charging depending on the type of the transmitted data cannot be performed. More specifically, when fair charging to a beneficiary of the transmitted data is considered, the sending side is preferably charged for the data of an electronic mail, and, for web browsing of the Internet, the receiving side which conducts the web browsing is preferably charged. When the conventional traffic measurement device is used, such charging depending on the type of data cannot be performed.
It is an object of the present invention to reliably perform charging depending on data transmitted through a communication network of this type with a simple configuration.